The Female Fashion Power List: Rosie Assoulin on Her Fashion-as-Art Design

*All this month, glamour.com is spotlighting incredible female designers—from the new class of leading women (in our March issue, on stands now!), to the innovators shaking things up, to the iconic names headlining Fashion Month. Follow along on our instagram @glamourmag, and join us on March 8, International Women's Day, in wearing your favorite brands made by women. *After generations of lone female designers (Donna! Miuccia!), there are now so many women creating such great things. Meet a member of spring's class of leaders, here with two women who inspire her, in our Female Fashion Power List.

Rosie Assoulin's personality-rich clothing isn't for those who want to go unnoticed. (Seriously, good luck blending in with the looks below.) And given the 30-year-old's track record—winning last year's CFDA Swarovski Award for Womenswear; dressing the red-carpet and street-style sets—plenty of women want to be seen in her designs. The Rosie résumé:

"I did event planning before. I loved it, but there was no way to push that other thing [fashion] down. I had this if/when/then thinking about it: Oh, I'll start when I can achieve that.' So I spent a long time killing that dream. I don't know what exactly gave me the fire to give it a go, but it had a lot to do with Leandra [Medine] and Claire [Distenfeld, opposite]. They have this unshakable confidence, like, Why shouldn't I do this?'?"

On her design aesthetic:

"We have everything from very voluminous, generous, cozy clothes to cutout pieces that are more revealing. I feel like I'm a version of all those women at any different time. I have to want to wear each piece, and not just see the model or celebrity in it, but see myself in it."

On her point of view:

"With our stuff, there has to be an emotional connection to get yourself into it. I don't think we're for every woman. I'm sure there are people who think what we do is heinous, and that's great because it means we've got a point of view. I don't feel I need to be everything to everybody."

On her muses:

"I have a hard time with the word muse because it feels sort of objectifying, but at the end of the day, Leandra and Claire really did inspire me and push me to start, so that's what I feel a muse is. I ran off to Paris Fashion Week with them for a year and a half before I finally created the line."

On the importance of fashion:

"I don't buy into this whole frivolous fashion thing. I don't think it's wasteful or indulgent. It's nice to get dressed up and celebrate sometimes. Those are important, meaningful moments, especially in hard times."

On the influx of female designers:

"I never thought of women being under-represented, maybe because my mother-

in-law [jewelry designer Roxanne Assoulin] was always an example for me. She had three kids. She did it all. And I saw how she did it."

On work-life balance:

"Women inherently have this strong ability to balance lots of things. Alber [Elbaz, her former boss at Lanvin] used to say, A woman has to be the perfect mother, the perfect sister, the perfect friend, the perfect worker, and have the perfect hair and the perfect dress.' That's an internal dialogue for a lot of women. But at the same time, we just get it done. I like to think of things expanding instead of contracting an identity: Becoming a mother was a very healthy thing for my career. It gave me clarity and taught me how to have boundaries. Before, I could go into a black hole and stay up all night sewing. I can't do that anymore, so it makes me more efficient."

On growing the business:

"Right now, I can't stop thinking about baby clothes. [Assoulin is pregnant with her third child.] I don't know that it's going to be a great money-making venture, but I feel pulled in that direction. I'm always pulling from my own life experiences."

Fashion editor: Jessica Sailer Van Lith

Get more extras from our March issue from cover star, Gwyneth Paltrow: